About this website for health professionals

About this website for health professionals

What farmers said they want (from this website)

"I suppose the things I really like are like a rustic kind of look, so you know even if it sort of had some of that corrugated iron or the old wooden post"

"Earthy colours, nature, consider nature"

"Because it's for rural kind of people… a farm kind of feel to it"

This website contains a free, self-help intervention based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), developed in collaboration with Australian farmers.

The website is designed to improve farmers’ wellbeing and help them adopt effective coping strategies when they are faced with future challenges such as drought. It can be viewed on desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile devices. An important part of the program is delivered by text messages so users must be willing to share their mobile phone number when signing up.

The design of the site has been informed by extensive consultation with farmers and our previous research that showed that farmers who cope most successfully with drought adopt ‘acceptance’ (and humour) as coping strategies. It also aligns with ACT’s expanding evidence-base as a highly effective treatment for a range of clinical conditions and the promotion of wellbeing in non-clinical samples.

The website aims to assist BOTH those who are currently experiencing poor mental health AND those who would like some new tools to improve their ability to cope with stress and prevent the development of mental health issues.

ACT is a trans-diagnostic approach, which means that the strategies it teaches can be applied to a range of mental health disorders and personal challenges. To make it more engaging for farmers, most of the examples provided and metaphors used to explain key concepts are farming-related.

More specifically, the website aims to teach farmers:

ways to relate to thoughts so that they have less power over them,

how to strategically plan to get the most out of life,

how to live more in the present moment (less in their heads) and

how to effectively cope with things beyond their control.

If you’d like to inform your clients of this new resource, download a PDF flyer here.